Billy McAlmond
Bill "Billy" McAlmond (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003), also known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled for, among other promotions, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the International Wrestling Federation (IWF). He was the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" McAlmond, and father to current WWE superstar Kooper McAlmond. Described by IWE as "one of the best in-ring technicians of his generation", McAlmond held fifteen championships in various promotions throughout his career. Among other accolades, he is a two-time world champion: one-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and one-time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion, two-time IWF Intercontinental Champion, one-time WCW United States Champion, and two-time world tag team champion: one-time AWA World Tag Team Champion (with Scott Hall) and one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Harry Windham). One of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time, Hennig was the longest-reigning champion of the 1990s and has been credited with helping bring the importance of the Intercontinental Championship close to that of the IWF Championship during the decade. Although back problems prevented Hennig from being pushed as IWF Champion, he became one of the promotion's most colorful personalities and later assumed a role as a manager and color commentator. In addition to championship success in WCW in the late 1990s, he was also a member of the New World Order and later, wrestling stable and country music group, West Texas Rednecks, who recorded their infamous, tongue-in-cheek song, "Rap is Crap." Hennig returned to the WWF for a brief period in 2002, being one of the last three men remaining at that year's Royal Rumble. He later wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, prior to his death on February 10, 2003. McAlmond was inducted into the IWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by longtime friend Wade Boggs. Professional wrestling career American Wrestling Association (1980–1982, 1984–1988) International Wrestling Federation (1982–1984, 1988–1996) 1994 return 1995–1996 return World Championship Wrestling (1997–2000) X Wrestling Federation (2001–2002) International Wrestling Federation (2002) Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2003) Death and legacy In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Perfect-Plex'' (IWF) / Hennig-Plex (WCW) (Bridging cradle suplex) *'Signature moves' **Atomic Drop, sometimes inverted **Backhand chop **Bridging belly to back suplex **Dropkick, sometimes from the top rope **Figure four leglock **Forearm smash **Hip toss **Indian deathlock **Kneebar followed by a knee breaker (leaps up and drives the knee of his inside leg into the back of his opponent's knee) **Knee drop **Seated senton to force an opponent to the mat or to an opponent's leg draped over the first rope **Sleeper hold **Snapmare, often followed by a rolling neck snap **Spear **Spinning toe hold **Standing headscissors into a swinging knee strike **Swinging knee lift *'Managers' **Madusa Miceli **Diamond Dallas Page **The Genius **Bobby Heenan **Coach John Tolos **Rick Rude **Vincent / Curly Bill / Shane *'Nicknames' **"The Perfect One" **"Cool" Billy McAlmond *'Entrance themes' **"Theme of Exodus" by Ernest Gold (used only briefly; 1988) **"Perfection" by Jim Johnston (IWF; 1989–1993, 1994, 1995–1996, 2002) **"Rockhouse" by J.Hart and H.Helm (WCW; used while a part of the New World Order; 1997–1998, 1998–1999) **"Wolfpac Theme" (WCW; used while a part of the nWo Wolfpac; 1998) **"Rap is Crap" by the West Texas Rednecks (WCW; 1999) **"Good Ol' Boys" by the West Texas Rednecks (WCW; 1999) Championships and accomplishments *'American Wrestling Association' **AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Hall *'Future of Wrestling' **FOW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame' (2007) *'i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling' **i-Generation Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *'Main Event Championship Wrestling' **MECW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Pacific Northwest Wrestling' **NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Larry McAlmond (1), Buddy Rose (1) and Pat McGhee (1) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1987) **PWI ranked him #'9' of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1993 **PWI ranked him #'55' of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003 **PWI ranked him #'98' of the Top 100 Tag Teams of the "PWI Years" with Scott Hall in 2003 *'World Championship Wrestling' **WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Harry Windham *'World Wrestling Council' **WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'International Wrestling Federation / International Wrestling Entertainment' **IWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times) **IWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007) *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter' **Most Improved (1983) See also *Billy McAlmond’s event history External links